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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27315241">Haunted</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreakfastTea/pseuds/BreakfastTea'>BreakfastTea</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>MacGyver (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Gore, Halloween 2020, Horror, Hurt/Comfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:47:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,172</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27315241</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreakfastTea/pseuds/BreakfastTea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mac wakes up to a strange phone call from someone who shouldn't be able to reach him. And whoever it is, they seem to remember more about his last mission than he does.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Haunted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Welcome one and all to my MacGyver Halloween fic! I try to write spooooooky halloween fics in all my fandoms. I hope you enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A phone ringing dragged Mac from sleep. Blinking, he sat up in bed. Light peeked between the curtains and shone from a lamp on the other side of his room. The phone didn’t stop. Weird. His voicemail should’ve kicked in by now. Instead, the phone kept ring-ringing. He looked around, but it wasn’t in his bedroom. He must’ve left it in the kitchen. Dammit. He was too tired for this crap. Matty wouldn’t have another mission for him already, would she? Grumbling to himself, he climbed out of bed and went to find the phone. As expected, it sat in the kitchen, buzzing its way across the work surface. He picked it up.</p>
<p>
  <em>Number withheld. </em>
</p>
<p>Weird but not totally uncommon in his line of work. Mac answered the call. “Hello?”</p>
<p>“Hi, Mac,” a cheery female voice replied. “You got time to talk?”</p>
<p>“Uh… I guess?” Who was this? The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Someone from the office? “How can I help?”</p>
<p>“Actually, I think maybe I can help you,” she said.</p>
<p>Mac glanced at his watch. Eight am. He had time before he needed to be at the Phoenix. “Help me? How?”</p>
<p>“You don’t remember?” She asked. “It’s not been easy lately. A lot’s happened.”</p>
<p>A strange feeling spewed into Mac’s gut. “Who is this?” he asked, shivering in the sudden chill. For 8AM, it was strangely dark out.</p>
<p>The woman carried on like she hadn’t heard him. “You’re going to have a hard choice to make soon.”</p>
<p>“I…” A faint pain stirred in his head. “What’s going on? Listen, I’m really tired and I – ”</p>
<p>“I know you are,” she said. “Rough mission, huh?”</p>
<p>Mac’s eyes trailed back to his bed. It was tempting. He was exhausted. He couldn’t even remember coming home last night. Their last mission had definitely been rough; an extended trip in Stockholm to protect a lab developing a pioneering cancer treatment. Phoenix needed to stop it from falling into the wrong hands. Medical research was a lucrative field, and some people were more interested in profit than saving people’s lives. If Phoenix hadn’t stepped in, the treatment would’ve been taken by mercenaries and sold to the highest bidder. The finer details of how they’d stopped the mercenaries were complicated; too complicated for Mac’s fried brain. He definitely needed more sleep. “Hey, uh, can you call me back later? The jetlag’s pretty intense and I need –”</p>
<p>“To not give up so easily,” the other voice cut over his. There was an edge to her tone now. “Are you listening to me?”</p>
<p>Mac yawned. He braced himself against the kitchen counter. “Huh? Sorry. I’m exhausted.” He really needed to get back to bed. They’d spent weeks in Stockholm, watching the lab, monitoring the comings and goings, waiting for the mole who was the militants’ way in. He’d posed as a scientist (not hard, and kinda fun, actually), while Jack kept watch, Bozer landed an archivist role giving him access to paperwork kept off the servers, and Riley ran background checks on every name Bozer threw at her from the personnel files. It had been painstaking and slow work. “Are the others back at Phoenix already?” Mac asked. No way could that be right. “If Matty needs me, I’ll make some coffee and get there as soon as I can.”</p>
<p>Which was a lie if ever he’d told one. No way would coffee cut through this exhaustion.</p>
<p>The woman on the phone chuckled. “You know the job’s not finished yet,” she said.</p>
<p>Mac scrubbed his face. “Yeah, it is. I’m home. We did what had to be done.”</p>
<p>Whatever that was. His brain was too fried right now to remember.</p>
<p>“Hmm,” the woman hummed, her tone teasing. “You sure about that?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’m sure.” Pushing away from the counter, Mac headed back to his bedroom. He frowned. It seemed darker than before. “Listen, I’m not sure who you are –”</p>
<p>“Aren’t you?”</p>
<p>“– or how you got my number, but I’m exhausted and unless Matty needs me to stop some kinda world-ending disaster, I’m going back to –”</p>
<p>“Mac,” she said, her tone so sober it stopped him dead in his tracks. “It’s me.”</p>
<p>Mac stared into his darkened bedroom. “No,” he said, his voice shaking. “That’s not possible.”</p>
<p>“And yet here I am,” she said.</p>
<p>“No,” Mac said, voice firm. “This is a sick joke.” Who the fuck would do something like this? “Stop pretending to be her!”</p>
<p>“It’s me, Mac,” she said. “You can say my name.”</p>
<p>No. He couldn’t. He could barely think it without his throat closing and his eyes burning. He staggered into his bedroom. This was a dream. A nightmare. Whatever was happening right now, it couldn’t be real.</p>
<p>He ended the call.</p>
<p>Collapsed into bed.</p>
<p>Felt a terrible, fleeting pain in his side.</p>
<p>Too tired. He was too tired to do anything about it. His eyes fell shut.</p>
<p>His bed dipped. Someone sat next to him. His heart jolted, throwing itself against his ribs. He couldn’t catch his breath. He tried to open his eyes. He didn’t have the strength.</p>
<p>“You’re in trouble,” she said.</p>
<p>A hand rested against Mac’s forehead.</p>
<p>It was so cold.</p>
<p>Damp.</p>
<p>Wrinkled.</p>
<p>Just like it was when a rescue team recovered her body.</p>
<p>“Mac,” Zoe said. “You’ll be dead if you stay here.”</p>
<p>No. He wouldn’t. “This is a nightmare.” It was jetlag from hell after a mission from hell.</p>
<p>A mission he couldn’t…</p>
<p>…when had they left Stockholm?</p>
<p>They…</p>
<p>“The others need you.”</p>
<p>They had left, right?</p>
<p>He couldn’t remember the flight home.</p>
<p>“Why can’t I remember?” he asked her.</p>
<p>Her cold, wet hand brushed through his hair. “You don’t want to die, do you?”</p>
<p>Pain doubled in his side. He reached down, hand shaking.</p>
<p>It came back damp. Warm.</p>
<p>He needed to see.</p>
<p>But he didn’t want to see…</p>
<p>Couldn’t bear to see…</p>
<p>“You fought until the last second for me.”</p>
<p>Zoe’s grip tightened.</p>
<p>“Aren’t you going to fight for yourself too?”</p>
<p>But…</p>
<p>“Something’s wrong,” he said.</p>
<p>“I know. You should look.”</p>
<p>Blood. It had to be blood.</p>
<p>Pushing his fear aside, Mac wrenched his eyes open.</p>
<p>He didn’t see his bedroom.</p>
<p>Didn’t see his house.</p>
<p>Didn’t see Zoe either.</p>
<p>Because everything around him was rubble.</p>
<p>Burning.</p>
<p>A lab?</p>
<p>He reached for his side.</p>
<p>Found blood.</p>
<p>Found…</p>
<p>Metal.</p>
<p>Metal sticking…</p>
<p>Mac raised his head, crying out at the pain screaming through his body. He looked down.</p>
<p>Saw the metal protruding from the right side of his body.</p>
<p>“Shit,” he breathed out.</p>
<p>He tried to move.</p>
<p>No good. Whatever skewered him, it was part of the floor beneath him. White hot pain cascaded through him. He couldn’t catch his breath. His body tensed, a breathless howl of agony escaping him.</p>
<p>He heard something in the distance. A voice, maybe. Zoe?</p>
<p>The agony was too much. His vision wavered, faded to static like an old TV.</p>
<p>Mac’s eyes rolled back.</p>
<p>His head fell.</p>
<p>Hit the pillow in his bed all over again.</p>
<p>“Nightmare,” he panted. “It’s over.”</p>
<p>“Hey,” Zoe said.</p>
<p>He saw a shadow moving against the wall.</p>
<p>Slammed his eyes shut.</p>
<p>No, no, no! This had to be a dream. A nightmare.</p>
<p>But if this was the dream, it meant the burning lab was…</p>
<p>
  <em>“Matty, it’s me. Listen, because I don’t have much time. We’ve stopped the mercenaries breaking in, but it’s only a matter of time before they break down the barricades. We need backup, and we need it fast. We were wrong about there being only one mole. There was a second, and she left a bomb in the lab. Guess they figure if they can’t have the technology, no one can.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Can you disarm it?” The firmness of Matty’s voice was reassuring in the cold, sterile lab.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Cold fear slithered through Mac’s stomach. “No. There’s not enough time. The scientists are holed up in a lab on the top floor. They’ve got supplies to last a couple days, but it won’t mean anything if we don’t get backup here asap.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What are you doing with the bomb?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Locking it in the chemical storage fridge. It’ll partially contain the blast, but –”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Mac, we’re on our way!” Jack’s voice hit comms. “You find cover and you wait for us.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Jack.” Mac heard the tremor in his voice. “I just –”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Just nothing, Mac! You’re gonna be fine. You –”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>The bomb’s countdown hit ten seconds. Mac slammed the door shut on it and ran across the lab.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Reached for the door back to the offices.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And never made it through.</em>
</p>
<p>“If you don’t fight, you’re not gonna make it out of here.” Zoe’s voice cut through the memory.</p>
<p>“Why are you here?” Mac asked.</p>
<p>“You didn’t leave me when I died. You fought so hard. I’m repaying the favour.”</p>
<p>“No,” Mac said. “No, this is a nightmare. A hallucination. This isn’t real.”</p>
<p>“But if you don’t want to go back, well…” Her cold, wrinkled hand closed around his wrist, squeezing hard. “You can stay here if you want.”</p>
<p>He couldn’t. He absolutely couldn’t. But waking up meant being back out there. In a burning lab where he was impaled on a piece of rebar.</p>
<p>“Death isn’t so bad.” Zoe’s freezing cold grip tightened around his wrist, discomfort turning to pain. “No more pressure. No more stress. It’s all gone.”</p>
<p>“Let me go,” Mac said. He refused to look at her. He kept his eyes locked on his bedroom wall.</p>
<p>“I tried that,” Zoe said. She laughed again. “You didn’t stay gone. You’re the one who came back here.”</p>
<p>He needed to get up. Get away. He pulled hard, wrenching his wrist free. He staggered back to his feet, dizziness and exhaustion swamping him.</p>
<p>In a <em>dream</em>. How could he feel so rough in a dream?</p>
<p>“You’ll have to look at me if you want to get out of this room.”</p>
<p>Zoe’s tone froze Mac to the spot.</p>
<p>“Can you do it?” she asked. “Can you look at me?”</p>
<p>Mac drew himself to his full height. “You’re not real.”</p>
<p>“I was real. We talked for hours. You wanted me to live so badly, and it didn’t work. Same for me. I want you to live, but you’re not doing a very good job. Look at yourself. You’re bleeding.”</p>
<p>Mac looked down at his shirt. The blood had spread now, staining his pants too. Rivulets ran down his leg, pooling on the ground beneath him. His body trembled, pain making him weak. His bed sang to him, promised rest and painlessness.</p>
<p>He heard it creak. “You can give in,” Zoe said from right behind him. “Haven’t you done enough? Fought enough? Saved enough? Lost enough?”</p>
<p>Dripping wet arms closed around his waist. He looked down, saw Zoe’s water-bloated arms squeezing his middle. The smell of rot tainted the air. He felt her lean into his back, her cheek pressing into his spine.</p>
<p>“You can stay,” she whispered. “If it’s too much, you can stay with me.”</p>
<p>“No!” Mac tore himself out of her arms. He turned, heart in his mouth.</p>
<p>Zoe wasn’t there. Only the indentation of her body remained, and a cold breath of air drifting through his room.</p>
<p>Gasping for air, Mac ran his hands through his hair. He had to wake up.</p>
<p>Water pooled under his bedroom door. He pressed his ear to it, heard wet footsteps slapped against the flooring. Behind him, electricity buzzed. A heartbeat later, his lamp died, plunging him into darkness.</p>
<p>Mac threw his bedroom door open.</p>
<p>Water flooded the darkened house. Grey light barely broke through the windows. Not a single light worked. Mac waded through the waist-deep, bitterly cold water, his body trembling. Pain sparked throughout his body, trying to drag him down. He had to ignore it. If he gave up now, he’d never wake up.</p>
<p>“Zoe?” Mac called.</p>
<p>“All you have to do is let it close over you,” she called. Her voice was muffled. He didn’t know where she was hiding. “After that, it’s over in minutes. It’ll hurt for a little bit, and then you won’t feel a thing.”</p>
<p>“No,” Mac said. “You were right before. I have to fight.”</p>
<p>“What if I said I could use the company?” Zoe asked.</p>
<p>Mac realized then where she was.</p>
<p>The deck.</p>
<p>He reached the door, forced it open against the tide. Zoe stood at the edge, staring out at the view of the city. She had her back to him. Her clothes were drenched, water pooling beneath her. Her hair hung around her head in clumps.</p>
<p>“You’re really going to go back to all of that?” she asked. “The chaos and the danger?”</p>
<p>“Have to,” Mac said, struggling to catch his breath. He couldn’t even stand straight now, doubling over to protect his injured side. “It’s not over yet.”</p>
<p>“Hmmm,” Zoe said. “It still might be. It could already be too late out there.”</p>
<p>Closing his eyes, Mac felt a flash of heat against his skin. Smoke irritated his lungs. He coughed, moaning at the pain that sent rocking through him.</p>
<p>“You sure you don’t want to stay here?” Zoe asked.</p>
<p>Mac forced his eyes open.</p>
<p>Zoe stood right in front of him, staring up through her sodden hair. Her face was too pale. Water gushed out of her mouth and nose. When she spoke, her voice gurgled.</p>
<p>“Stay,” she said. “Stay with me.”</p>
<p>“No!”</p>
<p>Mac lurched back. He lost his balance. Fell. Hit the ground hard.</p>
<p>He gasped, dragging smoky air into his lungs. Blinking hard, he found himself back in the burning lab. Air wheezed into his lungs. He blinked hard, trying to clear his fuzzy vision. He heard a sound, maybe a voice…</p>
<p>Someone was definitely shouting his name.</p>
<p>“Here,” Mac croaked. He tried to shout. “I’m here!”</p>
<p>“Shhh.”</p>
<p>It was Zoe.</p>
<p>She pressed the back of her hand against his burning cheek. “They won’t make it in time.”</p>
<p>Who wouldn’t? Mac heard footsteps approaching. He raised his head. Saw shapes emerging from the smoke. His side screamed in agony. Next thing he knew, he was staring at the burning ceiling. He could hardly catch his breath.</p>
<p>Zoe was there. She looked down at him with a sad smile. She was the only thing that wasn’t blurry.</p>
<p>“I’ll be waiting,” she said.</p>
<p>She stepped back into the smoke.</p>
<p>Mac reached out for her. “W-wait!”</p>
<p>And then someone else was there. Another person caught his hand, holding tight.</p>
<p>“Shit, Mac! I gotcha, okay? I’m here. Do not move an inch, okay?”</p>
<p>Jack. Jack was here.</p>
<p>Mac felt himself sag. Relief flooded him.</p>
<p>“Open your eyes, now!” Jack ordered.</p>
<p>Mac’s waterlogged house waited for him.</p>
<p>“Now, Angus!”</p>
<p>He tried. He really did. He couldn’t do it.</p>
<p>“Talk to me, Jack.” Bozer? He sounded worried. “We gotta lift him, and we gotta be ready.”</p>
<p>“I’ve got a first aid kit.” Riley? “You move him, and then I’ll do what I can.”</p>
<p>A warm, calloused hand brushed over his head. “Mac? If you can hear me, I am so sorry. But we don’t have a choice and we gotta get out of here.”</p>
<p>After that, it was a blur of voices. Hands grabbed him.</p>
<p>Mac knew what was coming.</p>
<p>“No,” he murmured. “Please. Don’t.”</p>
<p>“Sorry, Mac,” Bozer’s voice trembled. “But we gotta do it. Deep breath, okay? It’ll be over soon.”</p>
<p>Her hands were there, cold and rotting. “They’re right,” Zoe said. “It’s gonna be over soon.”</p>
<p>“Go!” Jack shouted.</p>
<p>Hands gripped him.</p>
<p>Lifted him.</p>
<p>Metal tore out of his body.</p>
<p>Mac screamed himself unconscious.</p><hr/>
<p>Mac burned. He couldn’t get away from the heat eating into him. Sound surrounded him, filling his pounding head. He needed to cool down. He needed quiet. Instead, his empty house was alive with sound and burning with a fire he couldn’t put out.</p>
<p>She was always there, hiding in the shadow.</p>
<p>Zoe.</p>
<p>She didn’t speak anymore. She just watched.</p>
<p>Waited.</p>
<p>Other people’s voices filtered through instead.</p>
<p>Jack.</p>
<p>Bozer.</p>
<p>Riley.</p>
<p>Matty.</p>
<p>They came from all the different rooms of his house, but every time he threw open a door, he just found an empty space.</p>
<p>Where were they?</p>
<p>What was happening to him?</p>
<p>Mac stumbled back to his bedroom.</p>
<p>Zoe sat on his bed, the sheets drenched with foul water. She shook her head, pointed to the door.</p>
<p>Leave? She wanted him to leave?</p>
<p>
  <em>You gotta wake up, hoss. Can’t do this without you.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I swear, Mac, if you don’t wake up for me, I’m gonna take the polar bear and sell it. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Don’t leave us, Mac. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Blondie, I swear, if you die, I’ll bring you back just so I can kill you myself for worrying us all so much.</em>
</p>
<p>If they weren’t in the house, maybe they were outside?</p>
<p>Mac turned.</p>
<p>Go. He needed to go.</p>
<p>He headed for the front doors, grabbed the handles and threw them open.</p>
<p>
  <em>That’s it. I know you can hear me.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>C’mon, Mac. Wake up.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Open your eyes.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Don’t make me open them for you.</em>
</p>
<p>Sunlight shone through, blinding him. He raised a hand to shield his eyes.</p>
<p>But at last, his friends’ voices were clear. Mac stumbled out of his house.</p>
<p>“Hey. There he is.”</p>
<p>A hand squeezed his. Mac blinked against the bright white light. He tried to speak, tried to ask where he was, but he couldn’t get the words out.</p>
<p>“Take your time, kid. There’s no rush. Just wanna make sure you’re awake.”</p>
<p>Jack. Jack was there. Mac rolled his head to the side. His vision came into focus for a brief moment. And there he was. Jack. With nearly a full beard and an exhausted smile.</p>
<p>Mac swallowed. “Hey,” he croaked. It was the best he could do.</p>
<p>“Man, it is good to see you awake,” Jack replied. He leaned close, his hand still holding Mac’s. “I know you’re feeling rough, but I need you to stay with us.”</p>
<p>“Stay?” Mac asked. Where had he gone? He blinked hard. He was so confused. “What’s happening?”</p>
<p>“Slow it down,” Jack said. “You’ve been out for a while.” His other hand reached over, brushing hair off Mac’s forehead. “You’re in hospital. You’re gonna be okay, but you need to rest.”</p>
<p>Rest? Hospital? “Was at home.”</p>
<p>“You’ve been dreaming. A lot. Even when you’re unconscious your brain’s keeping busy.”</p>
<p>A door opened. A nurse came in. Mac ignored her. He stayed focused on Jack. “No. I was at home.” Even talking exhausted him. “It was… you were there. Everyone was…”</p>
<p>“We’ve all been here,” Jack said. “Talking to you. Making sure you didn’t leave us. Looks like you heard us.”</p>
<p>Jack sat back to let the nurse complete her checks. Mac tried to get things straight in his head, responding to the nurse’s questions and accepting a few sips of water. By the time she was finished, he could hardly keep his eyes open. She slipped out, and Bozer, Riley and Matty came in. Mac stayed awake long enough to wave to them.</p>
<p>Their voices followed him back into sleep.</p>
<p>And yet…</p>
<p>…wasn’t someone missing?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks so much for reading ^_^ Until next time, you can find me over at <a href="https://breakfastteatime.tumblr.com">Tumblr!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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